Quality and Safety

In its landmark report Crossing the Quality Chasm, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) identified six aims for shaping the future of health care.1 The report argued that care should be safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient, and equitable. Some of these aims necessitate trade-offs with each other. For example, prioritizing effectiveness may constrain efficiency, or efficiency may compromise timeliness. Although there is no inherent conflict between effective care and patient-centered care, clinical practice guidelines and quality metrics often emphasize effectiveness over patient-centered care. In this article, in lieu of “patient-centered care,” which the IOM defined as “providing care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values and ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions,”1(p. 6) we use the term personalized care.